Sir Geoffrey de Mappestone, a brave knight of the Crusades, returns from a desert patrol and finds a fellow soldier murdered in a baker's bedchamber. But this is not the first suspicious death in the city -- other knights, and even monks -- have been killed, and Sir Geoffrey is certain that the murders are all connected. It is not long before he finds himself drawn into a sinister and complex plot to seize power in the Holy City -- and learns that his closest friends could also be his closest enemies.

Jerusalem, 1100. On returning to the city following an exhausting desert patrol, Crusader knight Sir Geoffrey Mappestone hears screams coming from the house of a Greek baker and discovers that one of his closest friends, a fellow knight, has been murdered in the woman's bedchamber. But this is not the first suspicious death in the city: other knights and priests have also been killed, all with the same type of curved dagger with a jewelled hilt.Ordered to investigate the deaths by his liege lord, Prince Tancred, it is not long before Sir Geoffrey finds himself drawn into dire straits involving some of the most dangerous men in the city—and learns that his closest friends could also be his deadliest enemies.